Wat Pho: The Temple of the [Giant] Reclining Buddha

Our last stop on our four hour Tour with Tong was to Wat Pho, home of the Reclining Buddha. After being surprised at the relatively small size of the Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew I was even more shocked at the sheer size of the gilded Reclining Buddha. At 150 feet long, it’s one of the largest Buddha images in existence.Nina took us to see the Reclining Buddha first. We started at the Buddha’s head and made our way down to his feet. There are shrines set up between the columns that you can check out.

Giant Reclining Buddha

Mini Reclining Buddha

Be sure to look up at the ceiling and admire the walls!

The perfect place to get your picture taken with the Buddha or capture most of the Buddha in one shot is at the very end of his feet along the fence. Someone from our group hopefully has a pic of us at the end – it just hasn’t made it’s way to me yet!

You’ll probably become aware of a chiming sound by the time you make it to the end of the first hall. I honestly thought it was some kind of waterfall but, when we made it to the next hall Nina explained that you can purchase a bowl of coins at the entrance which you then drop in 108 bronze bowls which line the length of the wall. The Thai’s believe this will bring good fortune! The number 108 is pretty significant in Buddhism and a lot of other Eastern religions as it turns out. In Buddhism it represents the 108 defilements (aka sins) that the Buddha overcame to obtain enlightenment which in case you are wondering are:

ostentatiousness

grudge

gambling

ingratitude

dipsomania

ambition

dominance

faithlessness

manipulation

stinginess

pessimism

hostility

abuse

debasement

sexual lust

sarcasm

humiliation

jealousy

gluttony

unruliness

hurt

cruelty

unkindness

obstinacy

envy

indifference

negativity

furtiveness

sadism

enviousness

derision

falseness

high-handedness

know-it-all

rage

aggression

rapacity

effrontery

disrespectfulness

hard-heartedness

eagerness for power

lying

insidiousness

self-denial

inattentiveness

contempt

wrath

haughtiness

greed for money

seducement

vindictiveness

insatiability

voluptuousness

excessiveness

censoriousness

dissatisfaction

egoism

ignorance

hatred

greed

impudence

imposture

cursing

imperiousness

lecherousness

callousness

malignancy

torment

intolerance

blasphemy

shamelessness

irresponsibility

obsession

prejudice

arrogance

violent temper

garrulity

dogmatism

presumption

intransigence

oppression

prodigality

lack of comprehension

obstinacy

pride

conceitedness

delusion

quarrelsomeness

self-hatred

violence

vanity

hypocrisy

stubbornness

baseness

pretence

mercilessness

disrespect

ridicule

masochism

tyranny

capriciousness

deceit

anger

discord

calculation

unyielding

desire for fame

deception

As you drop the small coins in the bowls and they make that nice chiming sound you can think about overcoming these elements of our humanity and bonus: the money goes towards helping the monks renovate and preserve Wat Pho.

We then stopped by a pavilion that houses ancient inscriptions depicting Thai Massage.

We also visited Phra Rabiang the cloister that houses hundreds of Buddha images.

We quickly made our way through a little more of the temple and then it was time to catch a cab back to the airport which took about an hour with the crazy Bangkok traffic. We picked up our luggage from the Left Luggage counter and hopped on a plane to Krabi where I would get to sleep in a bed for the first time in 48 hours!

Since we were arriving to the airport at night I went ahead and booked us a shuttle through Krabi Shuttle which cost 750 baht or $3.48 per person since there were 6 of us splitting it. It was a big comfy van and we all got to ride together this time! I took the back seat so I could lay down. The boys got our driver to stop at a store to pick up beer (Singha’s!) and then we headed to our hotel.

We ended up booking a last minute room at Krabi Aquamarine Resort & Spa for8,400 baht for 2 rooms with 2 beds in each room which at the time was $235 total or $40/person for the 6 of us.

It was pretty dark out so we couldn’t really tell how pretty the place was when we arrived but we all loved the grass roofs over our little “villas”. Frankie and I decided to stay in for the night. I was so exhausted that I took a cold bath (apparently half of us got cold showers and the other half got hot ones!) and went to bed without eating dinner. The other four went on an adventure involving lady boys and tuk-tuks. Josh had some how forgotten to pack swim shorts so he came home with some AMAZING Thai outfits to sport the rest of the trip.

I woke up pretty early the next morning and sat on the porch looking out at the (then) empty pool so excited and thankful to be in Thailand.